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SCMP Reporter

What do you think about the quality of schools?

J. Tsoi has hit the nail on the head in pinpointing a major problem facing the acquisition of English language in Hong Kong schools (July 3).

As a native English-speaking teacher with postgraduate qualifications in education from English and Australian universities, I must agree that the best intentions do not measure up to formal training and the subsequent understanding of cognitive development.

As I result I have witnessed many examples of poor classroom management and inappropriate pedagogy informed by textbooks rather than by the students' needs.

The Education and Manpower Bureau policy of allowing schools to employ staff with only a Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification, if no other fully qualified staff are available, is sadly open to abuse.

I have observed, on more than one occasion, schools employing these unqualified staff for cosmetic reasons, overlooking perfectly well qualified educators.

The resulting poor practice must then be dealt with by the local teachers, and the lessons in place for the children are of substandard to abysmal quality.

This also impacts on the points raised by Rennie Marques (July 3).

If  teachers are  ignorant of educational theory, then they are not able to correctly assess appropriate resources.

I recently intervened as a class of Primary One students was being punished for not being able to answer a worksheet which demanded they  assess their own use of the present continuous tense. No wonder Hong Kong children in some government schools are afraid to speak in English. What a daunting and irrelevant task for this age group.

I acknowledge the many dedicated and competent unqualified staff across the region, and the work they do in many centres.

However, if schools want effective methodology, not to mention equity for local staff, the above must be considered.

This loophole of access for unqualified staff must be closed if the Hong Kong government seriously wishes to improve its formal teaching and learning of English.

Labhaoise Jane Upton, Sha Tin

I refer to the report 'Exam results decline continues - A- level English pass rate at a 12-year low' (June 29).

What is the root problem behind the continuous decline in the English standard in Hong Kong? We have identified three main problems.

First, the traditional teaching method is outdated. The natural process of language development is by trial and error. You must allow young learners to make mistakes. Attention should be on how much progress the student has made, not how many mistakes.

As it stands, the learning of English has changed from a fun-filled subject into a painful, discouraging exercise, especially for those who do not start off well.

Second, all languages start off as a spoken language and develop from frequent use.

Jumping into the text without the background of a spoken language makes learning more difficult and less efficient. Schools should encourage more after-school discussion groups in English, solo verse speaking, drama activities and debating.

But the most important cause is because children start too late.

Research in recent years  has pointed to the fact that the best time to learn a spoken language is from three months to three years.

Language instinct makes a baby extremely curious about language sounds. Babies have an insuppressible drive to mumble and to imitate language sounds  related to them.

Hence our new programme, Scandinavia, is aimed  at building up a solid foundation in spoken English and Putonghua, together with an early exposure to French, Spanish, German and Japanese before the child goes to school.

Our children will be able to speak six  languages on their  fourth birthday.

Sam TS Chow, director, Le Beaumont Language Centre

Should TV and telecom firms provide a cooling-off period?

I believe there should be a cooling off period.

Companies are entitled to promote their services.  However, a cooling-off period can let customers think twice before deciding whether to  go ahead and use these services.

Yet,  even having a cooling-off period is not without problems.  Maybe you need to phone the hotline  to cancel your contract. After an hour of trying, you still can't get through and so are unable to make the cancellation.  This is quite a common occurrence.

Even if you are able to cancel the contract, that may not be the end of the matter.  If you have a decoder, you might have to return it to the  company.  But their opening hours might make that difficult if, for example, they are closed on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.

The office or shop might also be difficult to find.

The procedures I've described are common to all TV and telecoms companies in Hong Kong.

Because of this, people must  think twice before signing any contracts. The fewer contracts you sign, the fewer problems you will face.

Tai Kwun-kit, Sheung Shui

My boyfriend and I subscribed to iCable service during the World Cup last year.

We signed up in the street in Wan Chai. Six months later, we moved to Tung Chung. One month before  moving, I had already notified the operator of the date and I set up an appointment for the relocation service. The iCable person said they would call back to confirm, but they never did.

So, I had to contact them again, after we had moved, and the relocation was dealt with after one month.

A few months later, we tried to cancel the service.

However, whenever I phoned the iCable hotline it was impossible to get through to the operator.

Sometimes, after I had  waited for 20 minutes, my call  was diverted  (why, I don't know) to a CableTV operator.  Then I would be rejected and asked to call the iCable hotline again, as I was not  a CableTV subscriber.

I asked them if there was a particular number sequence to get directly to the iCable operator. They always said they did not know.

So, I had to do the same thing over and over again just to get to the correct operator.

Several times, it took us a whole hour just to get to talk to somebody.

During one recent phone call, one of the iCable people  actually hung up on me.

I believe you should judge the quality of the after-sales service by the efficiency of the hotline.

In this regard, we were completely let down by this company and I hope I do not have to go through a similar experience again.

Angel Law, Tung Chung

Should the present hire-car system continue?

Discovery Bay's hire-car issue has two main points of contention: first, the convenience for passengers who must  get to the plaza in between 15-minute shuttle-bus services, and second, the needs of people, such as those with medical emergencies, for a real, hire-car point-to-point booking service.

I can understand why the former might have to be sacrificed to comply with Hong Kong laws, but I fail to see why the latter must be put on the altar of insufferably greedy property development.

HKR International says the service would be untenable if it cannot be run like a taxi service.  Let's see the books, then, to find out if this really is the case.

HKR seems to have no problem laying on a limousine, concierge, housekeeping and catering service,  and more, for its new Chianti development.

Why can it not run a proper hire-car service for everyone else who has already bought into previous developments in Discovery Bay?

The new prospective owners of Chianti might want to consider this before they plunk down an outrageous amount of money for the newest 'spa lifestyle' offering in the 'Disney neighbourhood'.

Anthony Lawrance, Discovery Bay



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